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“He had his hand on my shoulder like this and said, ‘Love you, man.’ I said, ‘Right back at you, bro,’ and we laughed,” Eddie Williams recalled.

On Friday, the pastor helped lead a prayer vigil in Spartanburg that drew a crowd of more than 100 friends, family and community members to mourn the loss of Emery Williams.

The 64-year-old was gunned down in a drive-by shooting while he was on his way home from church at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. He was on the phone with his wife while driving along Willis Road near Blackstock Road when multiple bullets tore through his car windows and struck him. His car crashed just outside of the Westside Club fitness center, where he was pronounced dead.

“The biggest thing is the shock … Are we safe?” Eddie Williams said. “It could happen at any moment. This is something you should never take lightly.”

The vigil, held outside the Spartanburg County Foundation, gave attendees an opportunity to write messages to Emery Williams’ wife, Kay Woodward, who owns J.W. Woodward Funeral Home on Howard Street.

Sounds of “Amazing Grace,” “Taps” and other melodies from a trumpet player resonated over those gathered.

Emery Williams loved Jazz, said Chapman Cultural Center President Jennifer Evins. He had been a member of the cultural center’s community advisory council.

Stinson Ferguson said the family appreciates “all the love, support and every gesture” from the community and expressed disappointment in the way in which her stepfather died.

“We can’t undo my stepfather’s death. But since we know that, all we can do is move forward,” she said.

She called on the public to help “break the cycle” of violence.

“We’re heartbroken but life will go on. And we won’t just survive, we’ll thrive,” she added. “He had a heart of gold... I’m grateful to be able to call him ‘father.’”

Various ministers who prayed during the vigil asked for God’s blessing over the sheriff’s office’s investigation, the Spartanburg community, the healing family and the future of Spartanburg.